Happened upon on Tandberg 41 SW portable. . .
 

So I just picked up a Tandberg "Portable 41" which sits on my desk right now playing beautifully (as a bonus, it had six D-cell batteries already in it, all of which tested the full 1.5v!). I honestly hadn't heard of this one before, but wanting a SW radio to play around with, it somehow followed me home. Can any of you give me any information on this one? I did a search, but wasn't able to come up with a whole lot. I was surprised to find that, apparently, it was made in the early '70s (it looks a lot more modern, especially the control panel, though I guess the real wood and aluminum would indicate that it has some age to it). Any info would be appreciated!

Is this it-
Scroll down to model number.

http://www.nrhf.no/nrhf-TR.html

From the site "Radioer Tandberg"

The TP-41 "travel radio" was launched in 1969 and produced in 125,000 units until it was replaced in 1975. It came in two versions - walnut (the most common and best looking variety) as well as a black-anodized aluminum model. MSRP was in the neighborhood of $100-150, and current market prices in Norway tend be in the $150-200 band for a nice specimen. The faceplate and chassis is aluminum. Has a very strong FM tuner, as well as AM, MW and SW bands. It can run a long time on the six D batteries, but was also available with a wall adapter and a 12VDC adapter. Tandberg also produced a bracket to mount the radio under the dashboard of your car - after all, it is a "travel radio"! It has dual tone controls, and connections for a deck and TT. It's successor, the TP-43, can be connected straight to domestic DC with no need for an adapter.

The TP-41 is one of the best "travel radios" in the business, and beats more modern incarnations of the concept, such as the Tivoli, hands down, IMHO.

Ooooooh, Me Likey ! Scandinavian stuff always works well, & is VERY pleasing to the eye...

I was hoping you guys would chime in too,
I would love to have that mounted under my Dashboard!
What are the dimesions of it,It looks Big !?

Approx. 11.5"W, 7.5" H and 3.5" D.

Thank you guys, that's exactly the one. I was lucky and got it for $11 (and to think I almost left it on the shelf, thinking it was a '90s model). I've been able to pick up an amazing array of AM and FM stations, with very nice sound, but few on the other bands. I'll have to play around with it some more. I take it the wall adapter is rated at 12V to allow for auto use, rather than the 9V which is provided by the D cells; if I end up using a wall adapter, what kind of mA rating should I use?

You CAN'T use a Wall Wart w/that thing. Scandinavian juice is polarised horizontally, while ours is polarised vertically, they're too close to the North Pole. Your best bet is to box it up 'n' send it to me, I'll love it 'n' pet it 'n' call it George...<grin>

[QUOTE=Sandy G; I'll love it 'n' pet it 'n' call it George...<grin>[/QUOTE]

Heh heh, it's been a while since I heard that!


To Njord (or anyone), do you have any idea what the 5 pins on the bottom of the radio are for? How about the large jack on the left side panel with the "Y"-type symbol next to it?

Well, i see that Sandy is up to his usual tricks, using misdirection to try to appropriate that Radio for himself. I think he should be punished by donating the radio to ME!
:lmao::lmao::lmao: Logan

All's fair in love, war, & baggin' Radios...Mbwahahahaha...

Oh, yeah, Thyratron-Them ol' Tex Avery/MGM cartoons of the 1940s have never really been equalled...Used to LOVE it when Screwy Squirrel came on..Or George 'n' Junior...George-IIRC, that was his name-would get mad at a dopey mistake Junior would make & kick him squarely in the ass, w/a bass drum accompanyment. Hellzapoppin' !!

I passed on your questions to the Tandberg specialists over at the Norwegian audio forum Alternativaudio, and member Mulelid answered (my translation):

"The 5 pin plug is a DIN plug to attach a deck or a turntable. The port with the "Y" is for attaching an external antenna, for example for automobile use."

EDIT AND CORRECTION: Please see Halols' clarification a few posts down.

All the best,

I believe Mulelid misunderstood the question. The DIN plug is on the side of the radio.
The 5 pins on the bottom is the interface between the radio and the car-mount cassette.

You see, you could buy a mounting cassette that you attached under the dashboard in your car. Then you just plugged the radio into the cassette.
At least two of the poles are for the loudspeaker. And I am quite ceartain two are for 12V power.

Thank you for the excellent info. I would have never guessed that the connections on the bottom were for the car adapter. Well I think I have this radio mostly figured out now, though the speaker connection on the side is a pretty strange one also (at least, I've never seen that type before).

Last night, the clouds moved out and I was able to get some good reception on the SW band. I picked up several on the lower end of the dial, including Radio Havana (talking about how to set up shortwave equipment, interestingly enough), something in what sounded like Japanese, several religious stations, and one in a language which I couldn't identify. The middle of the SW dial seemed mostly empty, but I picked up another one on the upper end. I still haven't had any luck from 160-260 kHz, but I'll keep trying. It's a fun radio!

Per Arne over at Alternativaudio says: "12V / 400mA, with ground in the center of the plug".

I heard that one myself! I was playing around with my National (panasonic) T-66...trying to trace down the reason it has very low volume when the turned all the way up. No luck yet. If anyone can point me to a diagram for this thing, I would be very thankful! It's a National T-66 MW/SW radio.

http://oppcatv.com/kg4cna/NationalT66a.jpg

Not familiar w/either one of these sets, but do they have an "RF gain" control & is it turned all the way up ? You shouldn't need that w/a blowtorch like Havana, but you never know...

I've picked up a few more interesting things over the past couple of days, but the most unusual was one (unidentified) that "played" nothing but morse code signals; it was at the lower end of the SW dial. I wonder what it could have been.

I had the radio apart the other day, trying to retension/clean the headphone jack, as the plug fit is very loose and makes a poor (or no) connection. "Trying" is the word there, as I was unable to reach it easily, and did not want to be taking the circuit boards, speaker, etc. apart just for something like that. Does anyone know of a trick for doing this from the exterior of the jack? It's a regular 1/8 incher, or so I assume; Njord, please correct me if I'm wrong and it's a different standard that was used.

Again, Per Arne at AA says that although he believes there are two standards for the the 1/8" (3.5 mm minijack) jack (one US standard with a pronounced "waist line near the tip, and one International standard with a straight(er) tip), both types should fit equally well. He also notes that there is no point in connecting a stereo plug - a mono plug suffices.

Specificallty to your question, he says that it is possible to tighten the springs inside the headphone connector with a screwdriver for a tighter fit, but that it is done from the inside and some disassembly is required.

Hope this helps.

No telling what the Morse Code station was. Could be some automated signal, could be some ham fooling around, could be some clandestine/pirate station. Lotsa weird stuff out there, some signals are strange enuff in & of themselves. Various telemetry signals sound like a coffee percolator running, the end of an LP, the noise you make if you thump yr tongue against yr lips, all sorts of bizarre things. Most always you need a special decoder to make any sense of them at all.

There sure is some weird stuff. But I think that that's part of the fun of radio, made especially strange when heard late at night!


P.S.,,,A special thanks to Njord for your help with this Tandberg, asking the guys at the other forum and all. I've learned more about this particular radio from you than from all the searches I did on it. Very much appreciated!

You're welcome!

If you go to a certain auction site, and search for item # 250172253290, you will see a TP-41 that sold yesterday for just a tad more than you paid for yours:banana:!

Wow, I guess so! The amounts some things sell for on there are really amazing. They did provide a very good description and clear pictures, which always help, but still. . . that's hard to believe!

I´m pretty sure those connectors on the underside is the power inputs for a docking station for car use.